


The princess's birthday

by SaltySpice



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29108970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltySpice/pseuds/SaltySpice
Summary: Young Cassandra makes and promise and sends a message to young Rapunzel.
Relationships: Captain of Corona's Guard & Cassandra (Disney), Gothel & Rapunzel (Disney), Queen Arianna of Corona & Cassandra (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	The princess's birthday

The castle was bustling, servants and nobles alike prancing around the place. Cassandra shouldered past a few petite handmaidens, who were hanging long, drapey banners with Corona's sun emblem etched onto them, in honor of the Lost princess's birthday. She was trying to find her way down to the captain of the guard's quarters. Cass knew her dad was busy, but he always tried to make time for her, especially on today. It might have been the princess's birthday, but it was also the day he had brought home his daughter.

For most of the inhabitants of Corona, there seemed to be a need to avoid Cassandra even more on this day. She was nothing more than an unpleasant reminder of how the child rescued by the guard was not the one they wanted, and this was all the more apparent on the day she had been found, and the other had been lost . Cassandra had long known that they would trade her for the lost princess in a heartbeat, but the thought still stung.

She ran her hand along the corridor wall absentmindedly. She sighed. _Wouldn't it be nice to prove them wrong, to show them I was worth saving?_ Cass knew that the only way that she would be able to prove them wrong would be if the princess was rescued. She had always had a secret dream of saving the girl. She, donned in the armour of a knight, would swoop down from the heavens and sweep the princess off her feet, delivering her back, safe and sound at the feet of the king.

As soon as the daydream entered her mind, she shook it away. It wouldn't do her any good to dream about those kinds of things. She had allowed herself to do it when she was younger, but she was 14 now, she reminded herself. She was too old for this. Still mulling over her thoughts, she took an absentminded step forward, and her chest made contact with something solid.

Cassandra stumbled backward, alarmed, landing on the floor in a heap. When she looked up, she froze. Standing in front of her was the queen. Cass averted her eyes right away, her gaze burning a hole in the ground. She had run into the queen. _Great, just great, I'm sure this reflects well on me, the captain's little orphan daughter bothering Queen Arianna as she's grieving the loss of her child._

When she finally got the courage to look back up at the royal, she was relieved to see the queen didn't look upset. Instead, a kind, thoughtful expression was on her face. Cass relaxed a bit, but she still made an effort to look as respectful as possible.

"Oh, hello Cassandra, I didn't see you there."

Cass awkwardly stood back up, tucking an inky black curl behind her ear.

"I'm so sorry, your highness, I-I wasn't looking at where I was going,"

"It's quite alright, Cassandra. You were going down to see the captain, I presume."

The girl nodded, unsure of how to reply. Before, she could, the queen replied. There was a smile on her face, but it was tinged with a kind of melancholy that Cass had rarely seen before.

"That's right, he found you on this very day."

 _The day your daughter was stolen from you and he couldn't find her._ Cass thought, leaving the words unspoken. Instead, she said, in a voice uncharacteristically small,

"On the lost princess's birthday."

Somehow, the smile on Queen Arianna's face grew even sadder, and suddenly Cass felt horrible for even existing around her. She wanted to sink into the ground. Instead, she blurted out,

"I'm going to find her, someday." Cass clapped a hand over her mouth, feeling a blush spread across her cheeks. Did she really say that?

The queen's voice was gentle, not harsh or judgemental, not even politely amused, like so many others would have been.

"Is that so? I think you would do a great job doing so,"

"I've always dreamed of it, and I mean, if anyone can find her, I'd like to think that I would have a pretty good chance,"

She says it with a confidence that surprises even herself.

"If anyone can find her..." The queen repeats sadly, her gaze cast on something past the window that's not really there.

There's silence for a few moments. Cassandra considers making a run for it, but she realizes that would just be digging her own grave at this point. When the queen finally continues, she seems to be talking to herself more than anyone.

"It's been ten years. Ten years. She's lived a decade now, and all of it without us."

Cassandra opens her mouth to say something, and closes it again. She doesn't have anything to say, and reasons it's better to let the royalty in the room keep talking.

The woman spends a few more minutes staring out the window, and then Queen Arianna turns back to Cass.

"You'd make a brave knight, Cassandra. I would trust you to take care of her when you rescued her."

Cass's heart swells with an odd sort of pride. She tells herself that if she ever gets the chance to even talk with the lost princess, she'll treat her well, as a knight should. It takes her a moment to realize she hasn't thanked the queen yet.

"Oh- thank you, your highness. Thank you very much."

The queen's smile is warmer now, and she puts a hand on Cassandra's shoulder.

"Please, call me Arianna."

"Thank you, Arianna."

Arianna hears her name being called, and turns to Cass.

"Well, I have to go manage the festival. It was nice to see you, Cass."

"You too," Says Cass. She stands there for a moment longer, and continues her descent down the hallway, eager to reach her dad's office.

____________________________________________________

Cass adds the final stroke of black on the lantern, the crest on a knight's helmet. She's painted, (rather badly) the silhouette of a knight on horseback, sword held triumphantly in the air. She sets aside the lantern to dry, not quite satisfied with her work, but too scared of messing it up to add another stroke. Now, it's time for the letter, to the princess herself.

Cassandra bites her bottom lip, deep in thought, trying to figure out what message to put. She wants it to be sincere, but not too weird.

 _Dear lost princess, if you are reading this_ ,

That will do. She continues to write, her pen scratching across the leaf of paper.

_Dear lost princess, if you are reading this, it means that you are really still alive._

_That also means that I could come help you. It doesn't matter what danger you're in, I promise I'll get you out of it. Corona misses you, and we'd do anything to get you back. I hope I get that chance to at least meet you someday. Happy birthday, wherever you are._

_From, Cassandra_

Wow, she hates that. She crumples up the sheet of paper and tries again.

_Today I made a promise to your mother to do anything I can to bring you home. I hope you know that wherever you are, whoever you've become, and whatever is happening to you, we won't give up on rescuing you. I hope you will see all of these lanterns, each one bearing messages, and know that all of Corona is searching for you. I hope that someday we will meet, and you will know that I've always been searching for you._

Cass reads through the letter, making sure everything is in order. It's not the best or most creative message, but it feels right, and she doubts she could do much better. There's something oddly personal about it, which usually would make her uncomfortable, but for this letter it just makes it sincere. For a minute she contemplates signing her name on the bottom of the page, but in the end decides against it, reasoning that really, the letter could have come from any of Corona's citizens. she rolls up the note and gently places it inside the lantern.

"Cassandra, are you coming?"

Her fathers voice prompts her to get up and run over to him, barely dried lantern in hand. She appears outside of the castle a moment later, where droves of people, all carrying their own lanterns, are standing, looking up at the castle balcony, where they know the king and queen themselves will release the first lantern. Her dad waves her over to a less crowded spot on the lawn.

"You ready?" He asks her, his usually gruff voice gentle.

Cass nods, clutching the lantern closer to her heart, not saying anything.

"They'll be releasing the first one any minute now, so we should get ours ready"

He lights his lantern, and with a little bit of persuasion from Cass, he lets her light her own herself.

Above them, a single lantern, glowing brightly floats through the air, slowly rising. Instantaneously, everyone else let's go of their own lanterns, and they all hover in the air like a swarm of fireflies, before they start rising. Cassandra hesitates a little before releasing hers, but after a few moments, she lets go of it, and watches as the little painting of a knight on a horse fades away into a little blip of light.

She hopes the Princess will see it.

____________________________________________________

Rapunzel rests her chin on her arms, propping her head up as she stares dreamily out the window. The stars, lights- whatever they are- float away on the wind, each one of them headed off to some unimaginable corner of the world, on their own separate adventures. She can't help but be jealous of them, their freedom to travel wherever they please. She wishes she could do that, float away on the slightest gust of wind.

As soon as Rapunzel thinks this, she is hit by a pang of guilt. What is she thinking? She could never do such a thing. Mother would die of grief. Besides, it's not like she really wanted to go out of her tower. It was safe in here. Outside... not so much. She shudders, remembering all of the stories mother had told her about the world. Scallywags, ruffians, criminals, men with pointy teeth. Mother had told her that was all there really was to the world. Thugs and murders that would snatch up a naive little girl like her before she could even blink. She was lucky to have mother, the one person she could trust, by her side.

 _If the world is so wicked, why is it so beautiful?_ She sighs forlornly, twirling a lock of her long, golden hair around a finger. Suddenly, an object drifting through the air outside her window caught her eye. She gasps. It almost looks like one of the lights, glowing and weightless, soaring through the sky. She holds out an arm, reaching out to grab it. Her arm proves to be too short, and she has to hoist the uppermost half of her body out the tower in order to reach it.

After a few seconds of fruitlessly grasping the air, her fingers close around something solid. The star! (Although at this point she was almost certain that's not what it was, she had decided to keep calling it that for now.) She pulled it inside, and set it down at her table.

On the front of it was a rather clumsy painting. It took the blonde a few seconds to figure out what it was meant to be. _Oh, of course._ She thought to herself. It was a knight, on horseback. She had seen a few drawings like this in the few books mother brought in for her to pour over. She herself probably could have painted it a bit better, but finding the lantern itself had been so exciting and intriguing, she treated it with the utmost respect and awe.

The inside of the star was hollow, which she supposed made sense, as it needed to be light enough that it could drift in the wind with ease. On the inside there was a candle. It's fire had been snuffed out, but, seeing the wax dripping down its side, Rapunzel could be sure it had been lit before. There was something else here, too. A slip of paper, folded up neatly. She reached down and pulled it out, excitedly. She wondered what could be written on it. It would be the first time she'd seen something someone from out there had written, other than the books mother had brought her, which she had read time and time again. Just as she was about to unfold the paper, she heard a call from outside the tower.

"Rapunzel, I'm home!"

 _Oh, mother's back!_ Hurriedly, Rapunzel stuffs the paper back in the star.

"Coming, mother!" She couldn't wait to show her find to mother.

Then again, she isn't sure if mother would like it. _She loves me a lot, but she is a teeny bit overprotective. She might think that this little star is dangerous, even though that's silly._

Rapunzel grabs the thick, sturdy rope that mother climbed to get up the tower, and tosses it out the window.

"Not that rope, flower! Your hair. Remember what we were talking about, earlier? If you don't that's quite alright, I'll simply have to remind you once more, my daft little beam of sunshine..."

Rapunzel let down her hair, letting it cascade all the way to the bottom of the tower. She steeled herself for the pain that would come from pulling her mother up into her room. This routine was a rather new one, and Rapunzel's scalp wasn't used to all the extra weight. Her head still ached from the last time. She really didn't see why she couldn't just use the rope, but she was sure mother had a good reason to do this instead.

After a few agonizing minutes, Gothel stepped over the window ledge, a wide smile on her face.

"Oh, flower, how good it is to see you!"

She reached out a hand and tucked a long tendril of hair behind the blonde's ear, then gave her head a little pat. Before Rapunzel could reply, Gothel pulled out a hairbrush, and continued in a sing-song voice,

"Your song, dear."

Rapunzel obliged, sitting still as Gothel brushed her long hair. She began to sing, and the room filled with a glow not unlike that of the lights that came every year. Once she was finished, Gothel gave her a huge smile. She turned back to Rapunzel, and said in a sing-song voice,

"I planned a special meal for your birthday. I brought all of the ingredients for Hazelnut soup!"

As Gothel starts to place the basket she had brought with her from outside on the table, the star caught her eye. She eyes the object with suspicion, and picks it up, slowly, inspecting it from all angles.

"Rapunzel, what is this?" She askes carefully. Her voice was calm, but it still made Rapunzel nervous.

"It's n-nothing, it just floated by my window and I..." She trails off, awaiting her response.

There was a beat of silence. 

"Well, I'm sure it's not of much use." She looks at it disdainfully, like it's nothing more than a piece of trash. 

Suddenly, she seems to notice the slip of paper inside the object. She pulls it out, and unfolds it, eyes scanning words too far away for Rapunzel to make out. Her eyes narrow. Abruptly, she crumbles up the letter and stuffs it into her bag. 

"What did it say?" Rapunzel asks timidly, her curiosity getting the better of her. 

"Oh, it was awful. The ruffian who wrote it, whoever they are, was trying to trick you into leaving your tower and falling right into their trap. They used sweet talking to make it seem like they were merely trying to help but..." She tsk-tsks, and snatches the lantern off the table as well. 

"You're lucky mother is here to protect you from such criminals." 

"Yes, lucky." Rapunzel repeats dully. 

Gothel turns on the burner, prepares the soup, and kisses Rapunzel's forehead gently. 

"I'm afraid I have to be off once more! I promise to be back in a few hours. I love you so much, my dear Punzie. Happy 10th birthday, sweetheart." 

Rapunzel lowers her down the window, and just like that, she's gone, the star with the knight painted on it still in hand. Rapunzel feels a twinge of regret watching it being carried away, but she doesn't dare argue. Could it really be that someone from out there wrote her a note trying to trick her into leaving her tower? Mother said they really did want her hair, but something about the explanation just didn't sit right with her. She shook her head to clear it. Mother was much more experienced than her, and she had to be right. Probably. Maybe it just really sounded like a ruse, and the person really had meant no harm.

Sighing, Rapunzel walks back to the window, looking longingly at the land that rolls out in front of her. Pascal crawls on her shoulder and gives a chirp. She lovingly strokes his head, absorbed in her thoughts. After a little while, she decides she's glad she found that star. She wonders who sent it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a quick little story I whipped up. I wasn't really sure where I wanted to go with this one, so I will admit it can feel a little aimless. Apologies for my weird grammar, and also the weird tense changes I don't know why but I swear everytime I try to make the tense consistent and actually make sense I just end up making it worse. Also if any of the characters seem a little OOC, I'm sorry about that as well. I tried my best, but it's a little hard for me since I'm writing them during a time period where they were a lot younger and likely signifigantly different people. Anyway, until next time, bye. 
> 
> (Oh also- I didn't make this Cassunzel because I figures they didn't really know eachother and at this point Cass is 14 and Rapunzel 10, and I just can't see a 14 having romantic feelings for a 10 yr old she's never met. Other people have taken this senario and been able to make Cassunzel fit well with it, but I personally don't have thr ability to do that.)


End file.
